Sunday, October 20, 2013

National Novel Writing Month

I love National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Well, that's not exactly true. I love the idea of it. The thought of sitting down and writing a novel from start to finish in 30 days is a very exciting one. If you could keep up that pace you could be quite prolific. My problem is that I can't even keep up that pace for the month of November, let alone the rest of the year. In the past when I've decided to try completing NaNoWriMo I've ended up feeling like a complete and utter failure. I've never come anywhere close to the goal of 50,000 words. It's not that I don't know what I want to write about. I just don't think I'm wired for fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writing. And there's the whole family responsibility thing too. I mean I can't just stop homeschooling, cooking, and cleaning for a whole month. So this year, rather than set myself up for another epic failure, I've decided to do something different. I'm going to eat an elephant.

Well, not literally of course. But just like the method for eating an elephant (one bite at a time), I'm going to work on my writing one step at a time. I've already set out a rough plot line for my next novel (the sequel to Terror By Night which is available on Kindle and Nook). I've started writing scenes that I will weave together as I progress. But the most important thing is that I'm writing. If I'm faced with the gargantuan task of getting 50,000 words out in 30 days I freeze up. It's just too big leap for me. But if I take it one step at a time I can get it done. And what about NaNoWriMo? I still love the idea of it, but I've just realized that for me it will be a yearly motivational reminder to stay on task and write. Who knows? Maybe one year I'll actually complete it. Maybe.